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MONTREAL — A new poll indicates most Quebecers think their province will never separate from Canada.

The Leger Marketing survey for the Association for Canadian Studies was released to QMI Agency on the eve of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Tuesday's annual Quebec holiday.

According to the survey, 61% of respondents agreed with the statement: "Quebec will never separate from Canada." Another 27% disagreed and 12% didn't answer or said they didn't know.

Among francophones, who make up 80% of the province's population, 57% said Quebec will never separate.

The poll, conducted from June 17-19, could explain why Quebec voters so badly hammered separatists in the April 7 election.

The PQ was trounced 70 seats to 30 by the Liberals on election night, their worst showing in decades. Even some longtime separatists admitted their 45-year-old movement is floundering.

Their problem could be generational.

Baby boomers carried the separatist torch for decades but polls indicate many younger Quebecers simply aren't interested in the dream of a new country.

"A lot of sovereigntists wanted to see (independence) occur in the generation of the baby boomers," said Jack Jedwab, whose research group commissioned the Leger survey. "That's where the prospects seem unlikely."

The Constitution signing in 1982, Meech Lake in 1990 and the 1980 and 1995 referendums fade further into history, while the Leger survey suggests Canadian identity is strong in Quebec.

When presented with the statement: "I don't feel I have I have to choose between being a Quebecer and a Canadian," 66% of Quebecers agreed and 27% disagreed.

Also, 31% of Quebecers agreed they felt more attached to Canada than they did five years ago.

Jedwab says that even if a separatist party returns to power, it'll have a tough time getting people to believe any threat to leave Canada.

"The (rest of Canadians) are going to be increasingly skeptical," he said.